"We want Auster to feel like a place that belongs within the fabric of Paradise Valley, somewhere neighbors can stop for coffee, share a meal, spend time outdoors or bring visiting friends and family." Kayla Russum, Auster's general manager, said that in a statement as the property prepared to open to the public on Sunday, Oct. 4.
Coverage has focused on the 20 cabins, the owner and the conservation easements. For someone who lives in Livingston, the more useful fact is where Auster sits and what it serves. It occupies the same ground where the Point of Rocks Ranch once ran a gas station and a hamburger joint along the highway. On that same footprint there is now a drive-through coffee window, a market posted open until midnight, and a counter-service kitchen. The guest cabins are the resort. Everything else is a highway stop again.
The Footprint Is From the 1960s
The Livingston Enterprise opened its ribbon-cutting coverage with a short line: "This ain't the old Point of Rocks Lodge. But it sits on the old lodge's location." The property is on the west side of U.S. 89 South, between Emigrant and Yankee Jim Canyon. The Enterprise puts it about 34 miles south of Livingston. It also notes that the property's earlier dude ranch was built in the 1960s along the Yellowstone River.
That footprint matters to the design. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that Bozeman-based Miller-Roodell Architects designed the cabins, restaurant, coffee shop and saloon "within the same 1960s footprint as the prior Dome Mountain Ranch." Some of the historic dude ranch buildings were turned into employee housing, and the redevelopment took more than two years.
The land's history goes back further than the buildings. Helena Independent Record reporting traces it to Carrie Flakoy, a Norwegian immigrant. In 1903 she and her husband, Rupert D'Ewart, bought land on Carbella Flat, and she made her home there for 62 years. Her great-great-grandson, Bud Cunningham, says his stepfather moved onto the place in 1962. Under Cunningham's father, the Point of Rocks Ranch had a gas station, a hamburger joint and small guest cabins, mostly used by hunters following elk as they migrated out of Yellowstone in the fall. Cunningham later spent 35 years as a packer in Yellowstone. His daughter, Emily Heide, credits a "series of extremely strong-willed women" with keeping the family on the land until it was sold in the late 1990s.
Fuel, a burger and a place to sleep for people passing through: that was the old Point of Rocks business. Auster's public side picks up the first two in a newer form.
Four Counters, Four Clocks
Auster has four public-facing venues, and each keeps its own hours. Here is the schedule posted on Auster's dining page:
| Venue | Posted hours | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Southwind Market | 6 a.m. to midnight | Grab-and-go food, essentials, locally inspired goods |
| Southwind Coffee | 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Espresso, tea and energy drinks, pastries, with a drive-through |
| Southwind Kitchen | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday | Casual counter service |
| Southwind Saloon | 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. | Cocktails, Montana beer and wine on the roof deck |
Those hours line up with the road. The market opens at 6 a.m. and the coffee window at 7, before most sit-down kitchens anywhere would be serving. The kitchen opens three hours earlier on weekends, which suits a Saturday or Sunday drive toward the park or a morning on the river. The market's posted close at midnight makes it the late option on the property. The kitchen and saloon both stop at 8 p.m.
Auster's dining page does not say whether these are fall and winter hours or year-round hours. Treat them as the schedule posted at opening. The Chronicle calls Auster a year-round resort, and Russum told the paper the staff was excited to work at "a full four-season property." A property built to stay open all winter is more likely to keep a highway-side counter open, but check before a December drive.
What's on the Counter
The kitchen menu is built around ranch beef. Auster describes Southwind Kitchen as casual, counter-service dining with seasonal meals and regional flavors, "proudly featuring Mountain Sky Guest Ranch beef." Mountain Sky is the guest ranch nearby, also owned by Arthur M. Blank, and the Chronicle reports that its beef is served in the Auster dining area.
The executive chef is Cortnee Stripp, a Livingston native with more than 20 years of culinary work. For a property whose opening coverage was mostly about Atlanta and Home Depot, the kitchen is run by someone from up the road.
The other three venues draw from that kitchen. Southwind Coffee sells house-made pastries along with breakfast burritos and sandwiches made daily in Southwind Kitchen. Southwind Market carries beer, wine, essentials, locally curated goods, and grab-and-go sandwiches, salads and snacks from the same kitchen. Sales and reservations manager Julie Hilley told the Enterprise the market has a small assortment of groceries alongside gift-shop items. The Chronicle reports that the shelves include products from Livingston and Paradise Valley businesses.
The saloon, upstairs on the roof deck, serves handcrafted cocktails, Montana craft beer, wine and spirits, and you can order food from Southwind Kitchen there.
Where the Public Line Sits
Auster's FAQ says the Kitchen, Saloon, Market and Coffee are all open to locals and passing visitors. Beyond those four, the sources split the property this way:
- Open to the public: the market, restaurant, coffee shop, bar and the separate drive-up coffee kiosk, according to Hilley in the Enterprise.
- Guests only: the hotter pools beside the small heated outdoor pool, per the Enterprise. The Billings Gazette lists cross-country skiing, guided snowmobiling, horseback riding at West Creek Ranch and guided Yellowstone tours as things for overnight guests.
- Unclear: the riverside trails. Hilley told the Enterprise that walking trails running upstream and downstream along the Yellowstone are open to the public. Auster's FAQ lists trails among amenities for lodging guests. Ask at the counter before heading out.
- Paid and listed, access unstated: snowshoe rentals for the property's own trails cost $35 a day for adults and $25 a day for children under 12. Guided hikes are $135 for adults and $55 for ages 6 to 12. Auster's pages do not say clearly whether non-guests can book these.
The Chronicle reports that Auster also has a private dining room for celebrations and an outfitters room that Russum said could double as space for a lecture series on wildlife, landscapes and Indigenous history. The only public event Auster had dated was the Oct. 4 community open house, and it has now passed.
For scale on the overnight side, the Enterprise lists a one-bedroom cabin at $325 per night, priced per cabin rather than per person. A coffee and a breakfast burrito from the window cost nothing like that, and the public counters were planned with that in mind.
How the Valley Received It
Opening coverage in the Independent Record placed Auster alongside Chico Hot Springs Resort, Pine Creek Lodge, Sage Lodge and Yellowstone Valley Lodge & Grill as part of the valley's lodging and dining mix. Local reactions in that coverage differed.
Erica Lighthiser, executive director of the Park County Environmental Council, said her group appreciated that AMB West was upfront about its plans and that the rest of Dome Mountain Ranch is under a conservation easement. She also said another resort "reflects a trend that's putting real pressure on wildlife habitat, migration corridors and water resources in Park County." She asked whether resorts will pay for their impact on county services and called for "a community-wide conversation" about cumulative development.
Terese Petcoff, executive director of the Gardiner Chamber of Commerce, also welcomed the easement. She praised AMB West's foundation work and said its presence "supports our local job opportunities, our economy and the land."
The Chronicle adds context on jobs. Auster employs more than 30 people, and Russum said many of them had done seasonal work and wanted a place where they could "settle down and plant roots in the community." Blank told the gathering that AMB West's holdings in the valley now total close to 37,000 acres, all under conservation easements.
Fitting It Into a Livingston Week
Coming from town, the Enterprise puts Auster about a 30-minute drive south. The posted hours set the practical limits. The coffee window closes at 3 p.m. The kitchen serves breakfast only Friday through Sunday, starting at 8 a.m. The roof deck closes at 8 p.m. every day.
Downtown's fall calendar runs on its own schedule. The fourth annual 2nd Street Oktoberfest is Saturday, Oct. 17, from 4 to 7 p.m. Second Street will be closed to traffic from near the Owl Lounge through Callender to Lewis, and businesses across downtown will stay open late. Light Up Livingston is Saturday, Nov. 28, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Depot Center, with more than 100,000 lights on 38 Depot Park trees and a 5:30 p.m. tree lighting. Both start after Auster's coffee window has closed. A morning drive south ends in time for either one.
Jon Bertelsen follows changes like this across Park County and the Gallatin Valley, from new businesses on 89 South to the conservation easements that shape what can be built along it. If you own land in Paradise Valley or are weighing a property near Emigrant, schedule a personal consultation with Jon to talk through what the corridor's recent changes mean for your plans.
